The Truth Behind YYH
by hColleen
Summary: I am not Togashi. Don't take this as 'gospel,' but there are differences between how the story was supposed to have gone and how it did go. Snark by author, yaoi stuffs, your pairing might be underrated by author snark. Presented in 2K word snippets.
1. Chapter 1

There were many things about the situation that I couldn't agree with that occurred, and many things that happened despite what I thought should happen. I was supposed to have some control over this situation; I wrote it, after all.

Maybe I should explain that? I am both a recorder and a creator. Maybe I should list those the other way. I create worlds, create places for characters to play, then invite them in and then record what they do. I have little say in what the characters do while they're in the words I create.

Let me give you an example, then maybe you'll understand. I created a world, not too different from our own save that demons live among us, maybe even are seen by those who are sensitive enough to perceive them. These demons are a lot like humans in their variations between good and bad, though more extreme in their alignment, which is to say that those that align to evil are more evil than evil humans and those that align to good are more pragmatic than good humans. Perhaps it would be better to say that demons are amoral. Even those that are 'evil' are pragmatic, but their alignment is based primarily upon their interactions with others, much like humans, but moreso. Yes, that's more what I mean and more what you'll see. In that world, there is need for a 'policing' force for the demons. As demons tend to prefer to remain within their own for the most part, it isn't necessary for there to be a large group of enforcers and those enforcers would need to have a connection to both worlds, that of the humans and that of the demons. Despite sharing the world, they are still separate, after all, much like the rich and the poor in our world. I wonder if maybe there's more of an analogy there to explore. But, that is for those who analyze those types of things. My focus is writing the story.

Now, I shall share with you my most recent of stories. I'll try not to interrupt too much, but every so often I'll interrupt to let you know my thoughts on it.

Yusuke stared out over the city, the city he'd been born in, died in, came back to life in, and frowned. He'd suspected a lot of the things about this world that he'd learned to be actual facts. He'd always thought there were more than humans on the surface of the earth, not just in the other worlds, the Reikai and Makai and Meikai. There were demons, actual demons, on the surface of the earth, living within the city and one of them needed his help even though he was supposed to bring him in for justice because he'd stolen something from the King of Death. But, Yusuke trusted him, believed in him and had agreed to help him. There was something that compelled him to want to help, something about his eyes, the way his plea had been offered directly, simply. He instinctively knew he could trust Kurama, Shuichi, whatever he wanted to call himself. A name was just a way of determining who you were talking to with no real meaning. If he wanted to be called Kurama even though his mother named him Shuichi, then what did it matter?

His guide, the girl who called herself Botan, had been appalled by his willingness to believe and agree to the bargain. But, Yusuke knew better at a level he couldn't explain, the level he usually worked from, the level that made him a great fighter. He trusted his instincts; without them, he would have died much sooner than he did and would have missed his chance to live again and to become the Reikai's detective. He sighed, frowning over the view and his thoughts.

His thoughts were interrupted as his childhood friend and all-around busy-body, Keiko, came out onto the roof. "I knew you'd be up here, Yusuke," she said sharply. "Why don't you come to class since you made it to school?" she asked, her tone still as sharp.

"I haven't decided to stay," Yusuke said blandly, less confrontational than he normally would have since she hadn't woken him up like she normally did. That, and she had saved his life, sacrificing her hair, something she was proud of, to do so.

She put her hands on her hips. "Yusuke," she said, obviously exasperated.

He put his hands behind his head and started walking toward the door. "Fine, fine," he sighed.

Keiko followed him into the classroom, making sure he got there. She'd known Yusuke to 'give in' only to walk out the front door and go somewhere that wasn't school and wasn't home.

The next time she found him on the roof, though, he had company, a buxom young-looking ferry-girl. Her intimacy with Yusuke fed an anger in Keiko that she hadn't been aware of before. Yusuke was supposed to be hers in some way. Even if this Botan was supposed to be a secretary for his new 'employer,' that didn't matter. She was encroaching in places she didn't belong. It made her want to punish Yusuke more, made her want to make him beg for mercy in such a visceral way that she didn't know how to react. In some ways, it was better that Yusuke left with her. Keiko wasn't sure what she would have done.

Yusuke himself was, in the way of males, oblivious to what Keiko was feeling. All that mattered to him was that he had a challenge, something that would keep him from being bored. That's really what he wanted from this whole detective thing, after all. That, and he wasn't interested in Keiko as more than a friend. Something about that Kurama drew him.

If I told you this was supposed to be a romantic comedy, do you see some of the problems with the set up so far? Keiko is altogether too dominant-aggressive-angry to allow for the type of comedy I wanted and Yusuke isn't involved in romance with her nor does he have any inclination for her. He only sees her as his dear childhood friend, nothing more. Utterly oblivious to her feelings and her jealousy of Botan. And, can someone tell my why he's so interested in Kurama? Or why his first instinct was to ask Kuwabara for help in returning to life? Seriously, this is not what I meant to happen and this is just the beginning. There's more characters to meet and more ways this story went wrong, like the afore mentioned Kuwabara.

Kuwabara is an interesting character. He believes in honour, in the way of the warrior and has a weak spot for cats. Yes, this great fighter, whom puberty decided to visit early and harshly, will go out of his way to protect a little kitty, to the point of nearly bollixing a fight. It's one of the few triggers that will push him into a nearly blind rage. He, like many warriors, believes in fate and protecting women and that he should be destined or bound to protect the woman he is destined or bound to. This is what throws him off when Yusuke asked for help in the manner that he did.

See, Yusuke needed someone to give him the 'breath of life,' or a kiss, whatever you want to call it. Since he was dead, he could only ask in dreams, not while the person was awake. This caused Kuwabara to flip out because he had never before considered Yusuke more than…well, friend isn't exactly the right word, but neither is rival. Perhaps it might be best to say they considered each other best enemies. Yusuke was the one Kuwabara gauged his strength against. He could beat pretty nearly everyone else, but somehow Yusuke always managed to worm his way into winning. Kuwabara was very familiar with that type of obsession, sometimes dreaming fights where he would win, and end up on the floor by his bed, and other times losing and ending up under the bed tangled in sheets and blankets.

Kuwabara believed in the red thread of fate, though it soon became obvious that he didn't believe it stayed tied to one person. At first, he was head over heels for Botan, willing to do anything at all for her, even to the point of learning a skill that wasn't, in the strictest sense, something a human should be able to do.

Oh, maybe I should clarify that. See, it comes out later in the series that Yusuke isn't fully human. He has a demonic ancestor and through tricks of genetics, is mostly demonic himself, something that comes out more and more after he comes back to life. Kuwabara is from a family of spiritualists, but not any actual supernatural creatures, which gives him a particular sensitivity to demons. This may explain part of his obsession with Yusuke. Keiko is human with no particular affiliations to the spiritual save friendship with Yusuke and Kuwabara. Botan, as I said before, is a ferry-girl for the River Styx. Kurama is a kitsune in a human avatar, a fox-demon with a reputation for being the king of thieves in addition to the species reputation for being good lovers. There are two more in the core group of this story. I'll go ahead and introduce them to you now and then get back to the story, since I'm sure you're more interested in that than listening to me ramble.

It is fairly well known that Enma is the lord of the dead. Less well known is that he has a son, Koenma, who is, at least nominally, in charge of the Gates of Judgment and the whole Reikai detective program. Enma is a very imposing figure. Koenma is…not. He looks like a toddler with a huge hat and a binkie. Yes, the Great Ruler of the Gates of Judgment looks like he needs someone to change his diaper. This was not my plan. He just insisted that that was what he looked like most of the time. He does have another form, an older, much more confident-looking form, but his personality suits his regular form.

Our other major player is Hiei. Hiei is a demon that shouldn't be. See, his mother was an ice maiden and those frigid bitches reproduce asexually. His mother decided to try the sex thing with a fire demon. Maybe he thawed her a bit. And, I better stop with the jokes. They're not appreciated and I prefer my brainspace without holes in it. His mother had twins, one female, pure ice maiden, and Hiei, a mix of fire and ice. Those bitches threw him away, which is even more horrible when you consider they lived on an ice cloud above the Makai, a place where the nicest part of it is like the worst part of Earth. It could be said Hiei's a little bitter and that could be considered an understatement. But, he cares greatly for his sister and has done many things to ensure her safety.

One more note. I didn't know all of this when I started out writing the story. A lot of it surprised me as I went along. You have the benefit of my vaster experience with the characters…and already knowing how the story ends anyway. I'm not even sure why I'm telling this except that I will go into things that I didn't have a chance to in the story that you were presented with. I will try to keep my commentary to a minimum from here on in.

There is one more player in this second act, I skipped the whole opening sequence in this story, but he is of such little consequence that it hardly matters. Especially given that he's killed before he can do anything interesting. He's really not worth even this mention, so let's press onward.


	2. Chapter 2

The set up for this act is that three objects were stolen from the vaults of Enma, three so-called 'dark' objects, a sword that could cause anyone cut by it to become enslaved, a mirror that could grant a single wish on the night of the full moon and a soul that could capture the soul of anyone nearby. The ball was taken by the one that was killed right off because he used it to steal children's souls and ate them. That rather irritated Yusuke. In the manner of most punks, he had a twisted sense of morality and honour, though it might be typical or 'normal' in any sense of the word. He had a soft spot for children, and redheads.

I'm sure you've figured out by now that Kurama took the mirror and Hiei took the sword. Now, why would a kitsune want a mirror that granted him a wish? Why did he want Yusuke to wait until after the full moon before taking it back? Why did Yusuke trust him? Because Kurama had gained a touch of humanity and it was that that came to the forefront when he spoke to Yusuke, but also because it was convenient for it to come to the forefront when he spoke to Yusuke. Whether that was intentional or not remains debatable, but Kurama had a reputation for being a manipulative bastard for a reason. It was part of his success as a thief, after all. But, his purpose was to get something he couldn't steal. He wanted to save his human mother's life. She was sick with something that the doctors couldn't cure. While he wasn't what you could call 'kind,' he did pay his debts. He had his own brand of honour, like all kitsune do. They are bound, after all, to keep their freely given word. It's just a matter of figuring out what is 'freely given' and what isn't.

So, Yusuke arrived just as Kurama was about to invoke the mirror. Of course, Kurama revealed that the mirror would take his soul in payment for granting his wish, thus its reputation as 'dark.' Now, whether he planned for Yusuke to help him, to offer himself to the mirror, stating that it would make his mother sad if Kurama were to die in order for her to recover. Regardless of his intent, which I will leave for him to know and the rest of you to speculate on, that is what happened. The mirror took some from each of them and Kurama's mother recovered. Kurama did return the mirror to Yusuke as promised, too.

Once Kurama ensured that his mother had received the promised recovery even though he'd survived the process of wishing for it, though you have to wonder whether he actually expected to or not, he actually moved to help Yusuke, partially because he couldn't stand Hiei's tactics. They were a little underhanded and he believed that Hiei wasn't quite completely in control of himself. Just how Kurama knew that Hiei wasn't acting normally is something that is explained later in the story, but I'll spare you the suspense. They'd met two years earlier, when Hiei thought Kurama was responsible for capturing his sister, but it turned out they were on the same side so they became what could be called friends, were they human and Hiei a little less emotionally frigid. The point becomes Kurama knew that Hiei considered himself a warrior and acted with that honour and kidnapping a human female and using her against Yusuke didn't taste of honour. It tasted more of a tactic that Kurama himself would use if the sympathy ploy didn't work, but even he would find that a little distasteful.

The point then becomes that Kurama believed Hiei was losing control to the sword and that wouldn't get him what he wanted and would make things rather inconvenient for his own goals, so he acted in his own self-interest that happened to align with Yusuke's. That he was injured only is a bonus in his 'control' over Hiei.

Ah, did I forget to mention that? See Kurama is a kitsune. I've told you that before, right? Well, kitsune have what some would call a 'well deserved' reputation for being lovers of pleasure. And, human growth to adolescence is a long time, a very long time. Hiei, being a demon, was useful for relieving a lot of the frustration that Kurama felt. This is another reason that Kurama knew Hiei very well. That part never made it into the actual story, officially. Many have seen it, though, and shared their interpretations of it.

Now, back to the battle. Kurama allowed himself to be injured which would get him 'guilt' later, but served the purpose of giving Hiei a measure of control over himself, though he was still mostly under the control of the sword. It was enough, though, to allow Yusuke to defeat him. It also would serve for guilt/gratitude from Yusuke later, too. It served his purpose, after all, and Kurama is very good at serving his own purposes.

It goes almost without saying that Yusuke won. If he hadn't, would there really be a point to this story? It's what happened next that makes things a little more interesting, though. Hiei and Kurama were both wanted criminals, Kurama moreso than Hiei for being the 'king of thieves' of the Makai, but stealing of the Dark objects was hardly Hiei's first offense. They took parole, to work with Yusuke. Hiei wasn't terribly thrilled about the idea. What caused Hiei to change his mind about it was something that was left out of the story.

Kurama asked Koenma for time to speak to Hiei before their sentence was passed. They were obligated to have their time to speak in one of the interrogation rooms and Kurama was sure that Koenma would be watching. That just made it more interesting for him. "Let's take parole," he said, leaning against the wall, looking at Hiei, who stood sullenly in the center of the room, glaring at him.

"Why? We'll be stuck working with that idiot human," Hiei retorted sullenly. He was still angry with Kurama for getting in the middle of things, too. That statement isn't fully accurate. Hiei was mad at himself for allowing something else to control him for any reason.

"And while we're working with him, we'll be out of jail," Kurama pointed out reasonably.

"And considered traitors," Hiei added, mocking Kurama's tone of voice.

Kurama gave a short laugh. "I'm already wanted dead by more than want me alive," he said. "Already considered a traitor for taking a human body. What's one more strike against me by 'popular opinion,' Hiei?" He pushed away from the wall and crossed to the petite demon. "And, what do you care what others think of you. How can you fulfill your purpose in jail?" he asked, tracing a finger along Hiei's forehead band.

Hiei's hand came up, hesitating a moment, then fell back to his side. "Fine, take what you want," he snarled. His face was beginning to show signs of color and interest in what Kurama wanted, though, which probably contributed to his irritation.

A soft chuckle laced Kurama's words as he asked, "When have I ever taken anything from you?"

"If I agree will you shut up and just get it over with?" Hiei demanded.

"I do so love how you phrase that," Kurama laughed as he bent to kiss Hiei. "But, this is for your benefit, too," he added, whispering in Hiei's ear so that the eavesdropping godling wouldn't hear him. "It will allow you to continue what you want to do."

"And allow you to work your way into the detective's pants," Hiei whispered, as quietly as Kurama had.

A soft hum answered that. Kurama didn't say anything else, but he was also sure that Hiei would be interested in the detective. He had beaten him, after all, and Hiei did have a thing for those stronger than he was. For now, though, they were both more interested in the pleasures that Kurama knew very well how to give, enhanced by the knowledge that he was being watched. He stripped Hiei's clothing off a piece at a time, exploring the exposed skin more thoroughly than he had before.

Hiei found Kurama's attentions very pleasant, to the point that he started begging, something he'd never done before. He writhed and twisted as Kurama slowly took his time exploring every single sensitive point on his body before wrapping his lips around his cock. He came shortly after Kurama started sucking him and the kitsune wasn't finished with him. He didn't have a chance for his dick to soften as Kurama continued sucking and swallowing around it until he was about to come again and then stopped.

The cry that escaped Hiei's lips when his cock was freed of Kurama's lips was pure desperation and the groans that filled the room as Kurama's cock pressed into Hiei's body pure lust. Kurama pulled Hiei up, bouncing him on his lap, fucking him hard and more athletically than he had before. He was rewarded with the most glorious sounds he'd ever gotten out of the petite demon. It was becoming more difficult to hold out, but he wanted to hear something he'd never heard before.

"Let me fucking come, you bastard fox or I will fucking cut your dick off!" Hiei swore between thrusts, his words coming out more moans of pleasure than actual threats.

"Grab your own cock and make yourself come," Kurama panted. "Now," he added, a growl.

Hiei whimpered, moving to obey. He cried out in pleasure again, stroking himself hard and fast as Kurama grabbed his hips and pulled him down harder and faster until they both cried out and came, Hiei's come splattering on their chests, Kurama's filling Hiei's body and leaking out.

They went limp, Hiei resting on Kurama's shoulder, humming softly in pleasure. He'd never allowed himself to be so vulnerable to Kurama before and the redhead decided he'd have to be rougher with Hiei more often. "Let's take parole," he mumbled, his voice a purr of contentment.

"I'm glad you think so," Kurama murmured, caressing Hiei's back. "More?" he asked, flexing his hips a little. He could either fuck again now or wait, but he definitely wanted to fuck Hiei again to see if he could make the sullen little demon purr again.

"Not with an audience," Hiei snarled though he remained limp in Kurama's arms. "And, you'd better fucking convince that detective to join us or I'll never let you touch me again."

Kurama chuckled. "Of course. It shouldn't be too difficult. I think he's already interested. I just have to encourage him to explore that interest."

"It sounds like you have a plan," Hiei said, starting to pull himself away from Kurama. He looked at the ceiling. "If you have a problem with that, Koenma, you'd better just lock us up," he said sharply before starting to pick up his clothes and dress again.

Kurama took his time dressing again, smirking at Hiei's insistence on fucking the detective. While he was buttoning up his shirt, the door opened.

"I need you two to join the detective and his friend in the Makai. They are going to the Maze Castle," Koenma said, his clothing disheveled, his hair plastered to his forehead, his expression far more content than he had a right to be. Behind him, George looked rather embarrassed and pleased with himself.

"Are they having problems already?" Kurama asked, a smirk on his lips.

"Only with the unexpected environment. They're too used to the Ningenkai, after all. They need to understand the rules of the Makai and you two will teach them, Yusuke especially."

"Oh, we'll teach him," Kurama and Hiei said together, their voices promising much more than simple agreement to teach him to survive.

"Good," Koenma nodded and left.


	3. Chapter 3

Yusuke and Kuwabara were indeed having a difficult time with the Makai. They were used to being the top of the small heap of human fighters, Yusuke on top of Kuwabara, but demons, even the lower class ones near the Maze castle, were closer to or just slightly above their usual level of opponents. Taken individually or in small groups, they would have done fine, but demons rarely came singly when they were hunting. Instead, the whole town came out to 'welcome' them, for values of 'welcome' that involved trying to kill them.

It takes a lot for the weather in the Makai to be remarkable. The storm in which Kurama and Hiei arrived was remarkable. This is a good thing for Yusuke and Kuwabara as it caused the demons around them to pause. Of course, there had to be witty repartee as Kurama and Hiei joined the battle. What would a fight be without witty repartee, after all? The inhabitants of the town on the welcome committee were soon a part of history, which is to say all of the inhabitants of the town were dead, made short work of by whip and sword. And Yusuke and Kuwabara helped, too.

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention, being distracted by other things going on at the time, that Yusuke and Kuwabara had undergone some rather rigorous training by the grandmother you're glad you don't have. Of course, they needed her and she was getting to the point where she was thinking about retiring and maybe seeing the world. She wasn't the rocking chair type. Yusuke and Kuwabara were sure she wasn't the retiring type when she was done with them, either. She tested them in the strangest ways possible, video games, fights in the dark, random things like that. I won't go into too much detail here since you've seen it before and the real point of this story is to give you more of a 'behind the scenes' view of the history rather than retelling the whole thing.

What I will add to what you've seen is that while Yusuke was interested in Kuwabara, Kuwabara suffered the affliction that affects many who are hit with puberty early. While physically more mature than his peers, his level of clue lingered behind others of his age group. Between that and being a bit of a 'romantic,' he didn't see Yusuke as a 'romantic' target. First off, Yusuke could hand Kuwabara his ass, often without breaking a sweat. Kinda kills the romantic, protect you for the rest of my life vibe, doesn't it? So, while Yusuke would have, it never crossed Kuwabara's mind that he should propose anything, despite the fact that Yusuke had made known his interest before, in Kuwabara's dreams.

Now, Kuwabara was interested, after a fashion, in Botan, but she was a bit more forward than he liked, really, so he never pursued her beyond mooning after her when she wasn't around. But, had he been ballsy enough to let her know of his interest, he wouldn't have known what to do with her. Fighting, he knew, romance, though he wanted to believe he was smooth, he didn't know yet. Like a Great Dane puppy, he still hadn't grown into his paws.

Now, let us return to the story's present. The boys and demons made their way to the castle and in. I won't go into too much detail as, I said above, you've seen it. What you do need to know is that Hiei and Kurama were both weighing Yusuke and Kuwabara for their potential as partners, both to fight and to fuck, because, in the mind of demons, that was nearly the same thing.

Well, not Yusuke as much since they'd already deemed him worthy of their attentions, but being sure was never a bad thing and they wanted to show off as much as watch him. Kuwabara was still an unknown and they wanted to sort him out. Kurama could see the signs of 'still growing into himself,' but Hiei wasn't as used to human development. Demons were spared the awkwardness of adolescence. Such fortunate creatures, aren't they?

As you know, Kurama fought first, showing off and defeating Genbu even though he managed to get himself injured, but that was calculated again. Sympathy sex was a wonderful thing, after all, and there was always the possibility he'd get some from Yusuke, after all.

Next, Kuwabara insisted on showing his worth against Byakko, which proved very informative for the demons. Like Yusuke, Kuwabara had an almost innate knowledge of how to fight, even against a rather persistent opponent, one who outclassed him in many areas. Both Hiei and Kurama were favorably impressed and decided that it was indeed worth their time to study him more in depth, though Kurama did caution that their more direct physical attentions might have to wait until the boy's mind caught up with his body and he became fully the man he was growing into.

Hiei's fight with Seiryu was over so quickly it almost drew a moan from Kurama. While usually into more prolonged encounters, Hiei was one of the very few he knew of who could make a quicky as deeply satisfying as a drawn out fuck session and the demon's speed and accuracy were a large part of that.

Hiei and Kuwabara were almost constantly at each other's throats. Part of the problem was Hiei didn't understand why Kuwabara's mind and his body weren't at the same level. While the boy was almost physically mature, his mind lagged behind, not yet adapted to the neurobiological changes his body. Physically, he'd endured the changes of puberty, but his mind was still that of a child. Hiei lived in a world where children grew into adults before their bodies were mature and were thrown away from their family. This overly prolonged and, in his mind, obnoxious childishness in one who was so strong did not sit well with him. And, with Kuwabara rising to every comment he made, the two were bound to have a difficult relationship at best. Kurama endured their bickering silently for the most part.

Yusuke managed to mostly focus on the task at hand, at the need to stop the intrusion into the demon world. Granted, his focus was aided by a small mirror he carried that let him know what was going on and the demons were stupid enough to attack Keiko. While Yusuke's feelings for the girl might not be romantic in nature, he was fiercely loyal to those he claimed as his own and she was his.

Let's pause a moment and consider the mentality of everyone involved in this adventure, shall we? Yusuke's beginning to get the notion that this whole scenario is kind of serious business. Hiei and Kurama know it is because it's been the vaster majority of their lives. Kuwabara, though, believes he's involved in some kind of live action role playing game with super powers and a reset button. But, then, Kuwabara had also thought something along the same lines when it was just him and Yusuke mixing it up, that it was a game to see who would come out on top and it'd never end. Mortality and death hadn't touched him yet, the way it had the others, and he believed he and those around him would live forever. Yusuke knew he could die, had died, and knew what was on the line. Hiei and Kurama fought for their lives, even though demons lived longer than humans in general. This disparity, as it became more obvious to Kurama, made him decide to wait until Kuwabara had accepted reality before making a move on him. If he acted before the boy was ready, he ran the risk of destroying his mind. If he tried to force reality into his perspective, he'd also destroy him. For now, he'd support Kuwabara enough to continue using his strength, and if that meant listening to him and Hiei bicker, then so be it.

The endless stream of zombies and leveling up didn't help dissuade Kuwabara of the idea that this was some grand game, either. The move they used to get Yusuke into Suzaku's tower was definitely one that any excellent RPG would have, a human (and demon) tower to leap over the NPCs that stood in the way to waste energy and HP on. The energy bursts, Hiei's sword skills, Kurama's flower powers all smacked of something Square Enix could use in a Final Fantasy. What was there, really, to prove that this was real life and it could bite him in the ass? Even the ring of demon hounds skewered on his spirit sword around one of the towers was just too 'video game' to be taken seriously.

Even at the end of Yusuke's fight with Suzaku, where Yusuke won, but just barely with his life, didn't serve as a reality check because Kuwabara was able to give Yusuke some of his life force energy and keep him alive, just like Phoenix Down.

So, they returned to the human world, victorious. Yusuke took a few days to recover, during which time, Kuwabara convinced Kurama to go along with his little 'joke' of making Yusuke think that things had gone terribly wrong. After Keiko walked Yusuke home, asserting her claim over him, which he didn't respond favorably to, though he was glad that he didn't get beaten up, Kurama knocked on Yusuke's window, using a tree outside to help him reach it.

"I wanted to apologize again," he said when Yusuke let him in.

Yusuke shook his head. "It's not your fault. Kuwabara likes his games." He sighed, sinking down onto his bed. "You didn't need to apologize again."

Kurama sat next to him, as close as he felt he could get away with. "I also wanted to see you again," he admitted, his voice shy, only looking at Yusuke through the corner of his eye. He knew well how to get exactly what he wanted and he wanted Yusuke and believed the boy was mentally mature enough for the encounter.

Yusuke startled and looked at Kurama again. "See me?" he asked, his voice covering three octaves in the two words.

"Does that bother you?" Kurama asked apologetically. He drew his lip between his teeth. "I…I find myself attracted to you," he added softly.

"But…but…you're a kitsune. Why…I mean, I have nothing to offer," Yusuke stammered.

That the protest had nothing to do with gender was not lost on Kurama. "Kitsune are attracted to powerful people, Yusuke. You are powerful and becoming moreso. Why wouldn't I be attracted to you?"

Yusuke ran his fingers through his hair, rising from the bed and pacing the room. "But…I mean…I've never thought of anyone that way," he muttered.

Kurama stood, placing himself in Yusuke's path. "I don't need an answer now as long as you'll think about it. You have done a lot for me and I find that and your strength attractive."

"You've helped me out, too," Yusuke protested weakly. "We're friends," he added, as though that answered everything.

"I'd like more, Yusuke," Kurama said softly, his hand coming up to caress the boy's cheek. When Yusuke didn't flinch away, Kurama leaned in and placed a light kiss on the boy's lips, lingering long enough to promise more, but not long enough to give him time to panic. "Please, consider more," he whispered before moving away and leaving through the window he'd used to enter.

Yusuke stood, frozen where he was, a long time. He didn't know what to do or how to answer Kurama's request. He'd know from the beginning that something strange drew him to the kitsune, but he didn't know what and that strangeness had grown vastly stronger in the past five minutes.

It never occurred to him to turn down Kurama because they were both male. As he dreamed, he wondered what would happen if he did say yes.


	4. Chapter 4

They had a short reprieve before their next case. It was an unusual one, one that Koenma had no choice but to give to Yusuke, though he wanted to keep the demons out of it due to the nature of the case. He knew that Kurama knew of Hiei's sister. It had been the impetus of their first meeting, after all. This time, the case would be the completion of that beginning, but knowing the likely direction of Hiei's temper, Kurama's loyalty only to himself, and that humans were involved, Koenma set the case to Yusuke, using Hiei as messenger to keep him involved, to try and allay his guilt at leaving Hiei out to spare the humans involved. If humans died at a demon's hand, then his father would look into his business and that was something he wanted to avoid at all costs. The information he had at the time also lead him to believe that Yusuke could handle it.

Needless to say, there were a lot of things Koenma forgot to count on, the Toguro brother's group being one of those. The other being the fact that Kurama ran into Hiei as he was leaving from giving Yusuke the tape, the other was that he ran into Yusuke as they were headed out to the train. Now, had Kurama not run into Yusuke, he wouldn't have known where they were going, though Yusuke didn't spill the beans as to why. Kurama knew enough of the story from both sides to reach the conclusion that one plus one was three on his own. This, despite what you're thinking, is the true answer to one plus one. Draw a line, draw another right next to it and you end up with three lines.

But, let's leave that little diversion and focus on what Kurama did with his little bit of knowledge.

Finding Hiei was easier than it should have been. It wasn't like the smaller demon to leave a trail behind him, but this time, Kurama could taste his frustration on the air.

"I am not a messenger," Hiei spat when Kurama found him.

Kurama slid his hands into his pockets. "Of course not," he agreed smoothly. He leaned back against a tree. "You're a fighter, strong."

Hiei frowned. "What the hell do you know, Kurama?"

"You have better control than that, Hiei," Kurama said flatly.

That earned him a scowl as Hiei crossed his arms over his chest. "What do you want?"

"I don't want anything right now, Hiei."

"Then why are you here?"

Kurama's smile was touched with arrogance and knowledge. "To remind you we're on parole," he said, his voice sweet.

"I know that," Hiei snarled. "What is your point?"

"That if we were to kill a human, that parole would be revoked and Yusuke would have to hunt us."

Hiei glared at Kurama, waiting for him to continue. When he didn't, he spat out, "And?"

Kurama shrugged casually. "And nothing in particular. Just reminding you."

Stalking closer, Hiei managed to loom over Kurama even though he was much shorter. "You do nothing for no reason. What is your point?"

Kurama didn't move, just raising an eyebrow as he looked at Hiei. "Don't you care what they're up to?"

"Why should I?" he demanded.

"When was the last time you heard from your sister?"

Hiei became very still, a snake waiting to strike. "What?" he asked, his voice colder than Kurama had ever heard it.

Kurama almost regretted his approach, but he needed to make sure Hiei was calm enough before he revealed anymore. And, that would require fighting him. "When?" Kurama asked again. "You've lost track of her, haven't you?" Hiei's expression was murderous, but Kurama managed to make sure that his posture remained casual. "Didn't you wonder why Koenma gave that to you?"

Hiei's hand came up, grabbing Kurama's shirt, pulling him down. "What do you know?" he asked, his eyes burning into Kurama's.

Kurama swatted Hiei's hands away casually. "It's not what I know, it's what you don't question," he said. He pushed himself away from the tree and more into Hiei's space. "It's about reminding you what limits you must operate within in order to remain in a position to watch over her. And, if needed, make sure you have enough control to operate within those limits."

Hiei jumped back, his blade in his hand, then pushed forward. He snarled when Kurama met his blade with a sword of grass. While the blade stopped his attack, he didn't back off, over and over, he came at Kurama, always finding himself blocked. Anger reddened his vision, his eyes burning with anger he just barely kept under control to prevent himself from changing.

They fought around the clearing, pushing off trees, leaving the ground, forcing each other down, over and over, for several hours, until Hiei stopped, panting heavily, his sword by his side. "Where are they?" he demanded.

Kurama looked at Hiei. "Are you sure you have enough control?"

Hiei snarled. "I am not some weak human that you need to worry about me," he growled.

Kurama frowned and attacked. "Wrong answer." He pushed Hiei hard until the petite demon was panting, bordering on exhaustion and the sun was beginning to set. The fire had dulled in Hiei's red eyes. "Are you in control?" Kurama asked again.

"Yes," Hiei said shortly, sheathing his sword.

Releasing the blade of grass so it returned to its normal state, Kurama slid his hands into his pockets. "A human has your sister. Yusuke has gone to rescue her with Botan and Kuwabara."

"Those three couldn't save her."

Kurama smiled at the interruption, but continued on as though it had not occurred. "They are likely through the surface challenges now. I know which prefecture they've gone to." Hiei frowned at him and since Kurama wasn't trying to provoke him anymore, he continued, "I do not know exactly where in that prefecture they're going, but I do know which stop they're getting off at, which should narrow it down quite well."

Hiei nodded. "Then, let's go. Once we're closer, I should be able to find her."

Compassion touched Kurama's eyes. "She's warded?" The narrow glance Hiei gave him was more than enough to answer his question. "Then, let's go." He started off, leaping to the top of the trees and using them the way humans used a sidewalk. He could feel Hiei following him.

There was a surge of youki ahead of them and Hiei surged forward, outpacing Kurama as though he was standing still. The redhead did stop, watching long enough to know that Hiei was heading the right direction before going to the Reikai. He was sure Koenma was watching, but he needed to be sure. He was able to enter the godling's office without alerting anyone to his presence and watched as Yusuke and Kuwabara fighting what appeared to be a human who'd managed to infuse himself with youki. His weapon/brother was even more disturbing.

After a short conversation, Kurama made his way to Tarukane's mansion, slipping in and hiding himself near the foul human. He would not stop Hiei from doing what he needed to, but he would step in, but he knew Hiei had to act.

He had to admit to himself that Hiei's sister was rather pretty, if a bit naïve. How had she remained naïve while being tortured the way Tarukane had? But, then, compared to a demon's lifetime, she hadn't been captured very long. Kurama settled himself in to wait, watching what he could see of the fight below. He was even more impressed with Yusuke as he watched the boy's thinking and how he worked with Kuwabara to defeat the Toguros.

When Hiei arrived, his anger utterly overwhelmed any other sense from him. Though he had managed not to kill anyone yet, Kurama wasn't sure of his control. He watched as Hiei punched his way through Tarukane's guard and began laying into the man himself.

It was Yukina who stopped Hiei from going too far, though, pulling him back from the brink. Hiei didn't understand why she would care about that human, but he cared enough about her to stop when she asked him to. When the maid went down to Kuwabara, Kurama released his control enough for Hiei to feel him. Though his words were brusque, Kurama knew that Hiei was glad he was there. Kurama was also glad that Hiei didn't quite understand what was going on between Kuwabara and Yukina. It was obvious that they were becoming very fond of each other, Kuwabara fully devoted to her in just a short time.

Yusuke joined them, making sure that Hiei hadn't gone too far as well. He was more than reassured by Kurama's presence, though he said nothing, Kurama moved closer to the boy as Hiei left. Yusuke looked over his shoulder at Kuwabara. "I guess he's got her now," he whispered.

Kurama put a hand on Yusuke's shoulder cautiously, still giving the boy the option to push him away if he wasn't ready yet. "You're not alone," he said gently when Yusuke didn't push him away. "I'm here for you," he said, moving a little closer.

Yusuke looked at Kurama. "You want to have sex, don't you?" he asked.

Although it was a bit more blunt than he expected, Kurama laughed, letting his arm slide around Yusuke's waist. "If you're ready, I'd like that, yes. But, let's get back home, first."

Yusuke nodded, leaning into Kurama unconsciously. "Yeah, I want that."

The trip home was quiet. Kuwabara was mooning over Yukina, who'd told him she liked him. Yusuke was thinking both about the fight and what he was going to be doing with Kurama when they arrived home. Just loud enough to be heard, Yusuke asked Kurama, "How does it work?"

"Don't worry, I'll show you everything. It's easier to show you than tell you, Yusuke. And, I do intend to show you everything," he added, smiling a little.

Yusuke looked around the train, his eyes resting on Kuwabara across the aisle from him and Kurama. Botan had returned to the Reikai and Hiei had offered to escort Yukina to her home. The others, he didn't know and couldn't care about. "Does it hurt?"

Kurama leaned over and brushed his shoulder against Yusuke's. "Only when both are inexperienced or in a hurry. As I know very well what needs to be done and we'll have plenty of time, it won't. I'll make sure you feel very good."

Yusuke swallowed visibly. "I've been thinking about it since you told me you wanted me, but I wasn't sure what it would be like." Color started touching Yusuke's cheeks. "Keiko's manga look kinda scary."

"Manga isn't real life, Yusuke. Keep that in mind. And, keep in mind that I am a kitsune. I have a reputation to uphold, after all," he teased.

Yusuke made a face. "There are some bad stories about kitsune, too."

"You know me better than that, Yusuke."

Yusuke snorted. "You're a thief and a strong fighter. What else do I know?"

Kurama laughed. "True, I'll admit. But, you trusted me and I haven't let you down. I won't. I respect you too much." He looked to make sure that Kuwabara was still not paying attention. "Hiei also respects you, Yusuke."

Yusuke glanced over at Kurama. "Do you mean 'respect' like wants to have sex with me, too?" he asked, managing to keep his voice soft.

"Yes, he does, but he would prefer that I teach you first, so that you're prepared. He doesn't have the patience for preparation and a lot of foreplay. That is something I enjoy more."

Frowning, Yusuke asked, "What kind of relationship are we going to have?"

"The kind that we want to," Kurama said. "I will make you no promise regarding fidelity, but I will promise to treat you well. Whether you and Hiei do anything is entirely up to you."


	5. Chapter 5

They were silent the rest of the way into the city and to Yusuke's apartment. His mother was, as usual, away. "Sorry about the mess," he muttered as Kurama followed him in.

Kurama looked around. There wasn't enough in the apartment to call a mess, though he could still smell the lingering stench of alcohol. That it didn't cling to Yusuke led Kurama to the conclusion that it was his mother that drank. That didn't matter, though, as he followed Yusuke into his bedroom.

Yusuke turned to face Kurama, his uncertainty in the way his hands couldn't seem to find a place to rest. He smiled, almost making the expression cocky. "Well, what do you plan on doing?" he asked.

Kurama smiled, crossing the room until he stood in front of Yusuke. He brought his hands up to the other boy's shoulders. "Making you comfortable," he said. He leaned forward, bending a little, and brushed his lips against Yusuke's. "If anything I do makes you uncomfortable, please tell me. It's the best way to make sure you enjoy this."

"Can I tell you what I like, too?" Yusuke asked, lifting his chin.

"Of course," Kurama laughed.

"Then, kiss me again," he demanded.

"There's a better way to ask," Kurama said, not moving to fulfill Yusuke's request.

Yusuke made a face at Kurama then leaned forward, rising up on his toes until he was able to kiss Kurama. His hands came up to Kurama's waist to balance himself. While untried and unskilled, his kiss was demanding, straight forward, just like he was.

Kurama smiled into the kiss, taking it over, showing Yusuke how to kiss, teaching him how to ask for what he wanted without a word. Yusuke, to his pleasure if not his surprise, was a very quick study. Kurama let his hands move, caressing Yusuke's neck, into his hair, nails scraping gently against Yusuke's scalp.

Yusuke's hands remained on Kurama's waist until he took a step closer, then he wrapped them around the redhead, drawing their bodies together. The groan that filled his throat at the contact was delicious and his fingers soon began pulling at the fabric over Kurama's back, pulling at the sash, trying to untie it without actually reaching the knot.

Kurama broke their kiss, enjoying Yusuke's whine when he did. "Slowly," he whispered, brushing kisses over Yusuke's cheeks. "We have time, there's no need to rush."

Yusuke glared at him. "I want more," he pouted.

Working his hands down to the collar of Yusuke's uniform and taking his time about unfastening it, Kurama smiled at the boy's eagerness. "I will give you more, Yusuke, more than you know you want." His fingers traced the skin that was exposed. "I'm going to make you writhe and beg."

Yusuke raised an eyebrow, though whether it was skepticism or challenge was difficult to work out from his expression. Kurama's mouth covered his again before he could clarify which it was with words. With a sense of resignation and anticipation, Yusuke drew his hands around and began to work the knot out of Kurama's sash, letting it fall to the ground. At Kurama's hum of approval, Yusuke's fingers moved to his collar. He whined when Kurama pushed him back, breaking their kiss again. "What?"

"I'd like to remove your shirt, if that's alright," Kurama said, amused at the boy's need for kissing already.

Yusuke made a face at Kurama before letting go of his collar and allowing the redhead to push his uniform shirt off his shoulders. When Kurama stepped closer, pressing their hips together, and let his hands smooth over Yusuke's arms, stomach, and back, his expression morphed into one of pleasure. His hands moved to Kurama's hips once his shirt fell to the ground, holding his ass with a proprietary air. When Kurama began moving his hips, bending his knees and lowering himself, pulling Yusuke closer so the boy straddled his thigh, Yusuke groaned, his fingers curling, pulling at his clothes.

Kurama moved one hand so it pressed Yusuke's hips closer, helping him move in the slow dance he'd started, his other hand going to the boy's hair, tangling in it and encouraging him to deepen their kiss. Soon, Yusuke took over moving himself, letting Kurama be a little more creative. He let his lower hand slide down, pressing against where he knew Yusuke's opening would be through his pants. He was pleased when Yusuke groaned and began rocking back, pressing into his touch, pleading with his body.

Wanting to hear more of those sounds, more freely, Kurama moved to kiss Yusuke's neck, using lips and teeth to explore, to find the most sensitive places. He was delighted with the soft little whimpers and groans that fell freely from Yusuke's mouth.

"Too much," Yusuke panted, feebly pulling at Kurama's shirt.

Frowning, Kurama pulled back. "Too much?" he asked, his voice laced with concern. Had he pushed the boy farther than he was ready to go?

"Wearing. Need off," Yusuke whined, rocking into Kurama's hips demandingly.

Laughing in relief as much as amusement, Kurama used the hand that had been in Yusuke's hair to open his shirt and push it off his shoulders, Yusuke helping some. "Better?" he asked when he was bare to the waist.

Yusuke moaned and leaned forward, his lips going to Kurama's neck, his hands exploring Kurama's back and sides. He went for places that Kurama had kissed him, the places that had caused him to make the loudest noises.

Kurama's laughter became a moan and he threaded his fingers through Yusuke's hair to guide him to the places that he most liked to be kissed. "I'll take that as a yes," he teased, rubbing his cheek against Yusuke's head.

"Partially," Yusuke managed to answer. "You're still wearing pants, so'm I."

"I'll take care of that in a minute," Kurama said, changing their dance a little to allow him to walk Yusuke over to the bed. Yusuke turned them and pushed Kurama down only to have Kurama keep them moving until they were pressed against the wall and he was on top again. "I'll lead this time," he said, covering Yusuke's mouth with his own before the brunet could protest. He reached between their bodies and wrapped his fingers around Yusuke's cock through his pants, stroking a few times before working the button and zipper down expertly. He smirked and then moved from kissing Yusuke to sucking him off, ignoring the flesh between.

Yusuke howled and would have come had Kurama not wrapped his fingers tightly around the base of his cock. His fingers curled in Kurama's hair, pulling and twisting as he tried to thrust uncoordinatedly into that moist heat but was held down. "Kurama," he whined, begging.

Kurama continued to work on Yusuke's shaft, sucking and licking, creating a near vacuum around the head as though he were trying to draw Yusuke's whole body into his mouth, then letting his head slide down, angling his head and Yusuke's cock so he could take the whole thing in, using his tongue to trace out the bumps and vessels that lined Yusuke's cock before he pulled back and repeated the process. He kept his fingers ringed around the base of Yusuke's erection, preventing him from coming until he was ready to let him, though. His other hand worked Yusuke's pants off then teased at his opening, pressing in gently, but not very far yet. Later, when he let the boy think again, he'd inform him that his hair wasn't to be treated that way, though, oddly, he liked it when Yusuke did it.

"Kurama, please, let me fucking come," Yusuke whined, though it took him far longer to say the words. He was barely coherent at this point, twisting and writhing, completely Kurama's plaything. He had lifted his legs, spreading them so that Kurama could toy with his ass, had squirmed away from the wall so that Kurama had room to move. "Please," he whined, drawing the word out, twisting it into a scream when Kurama released the fingers around his cock and he came hard enough to turn everything he could see white.

When anything made sense again, Kurama's dick was in his ass and it felt wonderful, moving in and out, stoking a fire deep within him, one he was surprised could burn again after such an intense orgasm. "Kurama," he groaned, his hands still in the redhead's hair. He tugged, drawing Kurama down so he could kiss him. His whole body was warm, his chest looser feeling than he could ever remember and he wanted more. When Kurama's lips touched his, everything that existed in the entire universe was between them. His fingers tightened in Kurama's hair, deepening their kiss.

Kurama knew Yusuke was falling for him, it was obvious. In some ways, he dreaded it. He didn't need another attachment, but Yusuke could take care of himself and he was pretty sure the boy wouldn't mention it, much less need his protection; he was strong enough to stand on his own. He doubted that Yusuke would really let anyone, even himself, know that he was in love, unlike Kuwabara with Yukina. He pushed those thoughts away and enjoyed Yusuke's body, the building heat that flowed between them, the long slow dance of their hips. He rolled them over, keeping his dick in Yusuke's body, encouraging the boy to ride him, until they both came, Yusuke screaming again. He held Yusuke, letting the feelings the boy had grow. What would it hurt? And, there was a good chance he could use them somehow.

It was at that point that any interest Yusuke might have had in Kuwabara faded. He had Kurama and it was enough. Besides, the redhead really knew how to make him feel good where as Kuwabara tended to rebuff his advances, clumsy as they were. Yusuke wasn't the type to be pie-eyed, though. Once he recovered and they took a shower together, in which Kurama showed him how to truly enjoy cleaning a cock, Yusuke was back to treating Kurama as he had before, though with a bit more respect.

Yusuke walked Kurama home and was on his way back when he felt something weird. As you know, he ran into the Toguro brothers, previously thought dead but only faking it, and were invited to the Ankokubujutsukai.

Now, you're wondering why Kurama and Hiei were together, aren't you? Yes, Kurama had gone off to tell Hiei about his experience with Yusuke, to let the petite demon know how the boy had taken being fucked. He left the deepening attachment Yusuke felt out of it. Hiei didn't care to know and Kurama saw no point in sharing it. After the meeting with Toguro, though, he did talk to Hiei about needing to train Kuwabara and the petite demon agreed, though he flat out refused to do anything more than combat training with him. As Kurama didn't think Kuwabara would be interested, he agreed to that condition.

Before Yusuke left to return to Genkai, Kurama made love to him again, spending the whole night with the boy, keeping him from sleep, leaving kiss marks only where the boy's pants would hide them. He was sure Genkai would bitch at him for showing up tired, but he also knew that Yusuke would perform better for the time taken.

After Yusuke left, Kurama was about to go to Kuwabara's house when the boy showed up as his. Hiding a smirk, Kurama listened to what he had to say. His use of words like 'power up' or 'level up' caused some concern, but he didn't say anything about that. They needed the strength they could get. "Meet Hiei and me out by the forest tomorrow morning. We'll train you."

"Thanks," Kuwabara said, nodding grimly.

"And, Kuwabara-kun," Kurama said, waiting for the boy to acknowledge him. "It won't be easy. You may die from the experience."

Kuwabara swallowed visibly and nodded again. "I know."


	6. Chapter 6

Hiei walked with Yusuke, falling silently into step when the boy left his apartment, remaining silent as the boy walked toward the train station. Before Yusuke entered the train station, though, Hiei turned a glare on the boy and ducked into an alleyway. Yusuke frowned, but followed him anyway, curious as to what Hiei wanted anyway.

"Kurama told you I was interested in you," Hiei began abruptly.

Color threatened to touch Yusuke's cheeks. "Yes," he admitted. "He…he said you preferred that he teach me first," he added, color breaking through his desire to appear knowledgeable.

One corner of Hiei's mouth turned up at the blush Yusuke couldn't stop. "Had we the luxury of time before the tournament, then I would allow him his time to train you to his satisfaction. However, our time is shortened." He stepped closer to Yusuke. "Take the next train," he ordered.

Yusuke swallowed thickly. "And…if I don't want to?" he said, lifting his chin even as his body began to respond to the idea of sex with Hiei. He was almost surprised that he was horny again after being so well fucked by Kurama, surprised that he wanted Hiei.

"Don't waste my time with games, detective," Hiei snarled as he stepped closer.

Yusuke brought his hand up, hesitating a moment, then went to Hiei's shoulder. "I…I've only done it once with Kurama," he said. "I'm still new to this," he added, swallowing thickly again.

"I had no intention of fucking you here," Hiei snorted, pressing his body against Yusuke's, threading his finger though the boy's hair and pulling him down. "You're not ready for it," he said before pulling Yusuke's lips against his and kissing the boy deeply and thoroughly. His hand slipped down, caressing Yusuke's cock through his pants then working them open to stroke the boy's bare flesh.

Yusuke groaned loudly, earning a nip from Hiei. He reciprocated though, reaching under Hiei's cloak to stroke his cock. It took a while longer, between how good Hiei was and how complicated it was to undo three belts, before Yusuke felt that flesh in his hand. It was both glorious and weird—glorious in that Hiei made little noises that let Yusuke know exactly what he liked, weird in that Yusuke had never felt another's erection in his hand and he wanted to take his time and explore just how different it was than his. He also could feel the desire to taste it building, almost making him salivate.

But, Hiei's hand on his cock was demanding and Yusuke's attention was soon torn between what the petite demon was doing and what he wanted to do to him. He spread his legs, making it easier to slip down and deepen his kisses with Hiei, letting his hips rock into his touch. He couldn't hold back the noises that rose to his throat and for each one he made, Hiei bit his lips and tongue, making him groan more. He hadn't realized that pain could feel so good, but he wanted to know what else Hiei would do to him, needed to know.

He whined as his body began to draw close to orgasm. He wanted to come, but he wanted Hiei to come, too. He wanted permission to come.

Hiei brought his hand up, pressing his thumb against Yusuke's throat before he moved his lips to the boy's ear. "You may come," he whispered harshly, biting Yusuke's ear. "But don't scream," he warned through his teeth.

Yusuke couldn't scream if he wanted to. Hiei's thumb pressed his vocal cords so he couldn't even groan. He didn't think he could be more turned on, but Hiei's teeth against his ear was even more amazing. He came, frantically pulling at Hieie's cock as though it were his own. He could feel come warm against his wrist, sliding down into his palm, as Hiei's erection pulsed in his hand. His eyes widened when Hiei brought his hand up and held it before his lips.

"Clean it off," Hiei ordered.

Tentatively at first, then with growing enthusiasm, Yusuke licked Hiei's hand clean, groaning when his throat was released, drawing Hiei's fingers into his mouth, sucking them, trying to draw in every flavor. He pouted when Hiei took his hand away, watching as the demon refastened his pants, though he did bring his own hand up and sucked Hiei's come off of it, very much enjoying the flavor as well.

"When you come back, I want to see what you learned, understand? If you please me, there can be more."

Yusuke swallowed a moan and nodded. "I understand."

Hiei adjusted his own pants under his cloak and left.

Hefting his bag back onto his shoulder, Yusuke left the alleyway, running into Keiko. "Oh," he stammered.

It is very obvious that he just spent a significant amount of time kissing someone rather passionately. Keiko wasn't dim by any means. "Who?" she asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

Yusuke's hand went to his hair. "Ah, no one you'd know," he mumbled. He didn't think she would remember Hiei or Kurama for that matter. "Just…well…a guy," he said, looking down.

"A guy," she echoed. Swallowing, she nodded. They were friends, after all. "How long have you known him?" she asked, though it felt so wrong in her head. But, Yusuke was her friend.

"Met him through work," he said.

"You're in love?" she asked, her stomach feeling weird, but intent on being Yusuke's friend, no matter what. She wouldn't let him leave on a bad note.

"Yes," he admitted, grinning a little. "I'm sorry, Keiko," he said, looking at her sincerely.

She took a deep breath, held it a moment, then let it out. "Well, what can you do?" she asked rhetorically. "Have a safe trip, Yusuke. Do your best."

Yusuke wanted to say something else, but her determinedly cheerful expression made it difficult. He knew he hurt her, but he wasn't going to lie to her or hide when she asked him so directly. "There won't be any time between training and going to the tournament, but after, we can go to a movie or something," he offered.

"I doubt we'd get through the whole thing," she shot back, waving and leaving.

He sighed, then turned into the station.

Kuwabara met Kurama at the edge of the forest. He looked around for Hiei, scowling when he didn't see him. "Where's the runt?" he demanded.

"He had business to take care of," Kurama replied, knowing exactly where Hiei was and what he intended to do. "He'll join us when he is able. Shall we begin?" he asked, smiling gently. He soon taught Kuwabara to fear that smile as he ran the boy through obstacle courses, fought him with the whip, pushed his endurance into what a demon should be able to tolerate.

When Hiei arrived, Kuwabara was panting heavily, sweat dripping down his chest, now bare, scratches covering his arms and torso, tears in his pants. "You've been going easy on him," Hiei said sourly.

"Shut up, runt. What do you know?" Kuwabara panted.

Hiei looked at Kurama, who raised a single shoulder, then back at Kuwabara. "I know that I could have killed you five times already," he said, his voice cold.

"Oh yeah?" Kuwabara demanded, raising his fist, his sword appearing as he brandished it. "Wanna try it?"

In less than a blink of an eye, Hiei was inside Kuwabara's defenses, a finger pressed between his ribs, just over his pulsing heart. "You're dead."

"I wasn't ready! Do over!"

Hiei rolled his eyes, stepping back. "Of course you aren't ready. That's why we're here," he spat, returning to the tree.

"Let's continue," Kurama said. "You'll get less warning in the tournament." He continued pushing Kuwabara until late into the afternoon.

The boy collapsed with barely enough energy to turn his head to the side to breathe. His sides heaved, his body looked as though he'd just been dipped in baby oil and water, even his pants were soaked through where they were still intact. His shoes, relatively new, looked as though they'd come from the bottom of a dumpster.

Kurama, for his part, looked as though he might have been jogging a little bit. His cheeks were a little flush and there was a slight glow to his skin. "Tomorrow, Kuwabara-kun. Same time."

"Do you think it wise to let him sleep?" Hiei asked. He'd mostly observed, occasionally stepping in with an attack when Kuwabara got too mouthy for his tastes. "He might forget everything."

"He isn't quite ready for that yet, Hiei. It is best not to push him too hard, lest he break." He looked at the boy and felt a small bit of pity for him. He pulled a seed from his hair and forced it to grow next to the boy. Melons sprouted, turning green with darker green stripes. "When you're ready, have some then go home," he said, turning to leave, Hiei following him. They had notes to compare about the detective, after all.

Kuwabara pushed himself up when he was able to move again. "Phoenix down?" he muttered, just barely managing to summon up enough energy to create a blade to cut it open. He didn't have the finesse to cut it into more than quarters, but he at the whole melon, down to the rind before letting out a sigh. "Demon bastards," he muttered.

A week later, and things were going along the same lines in the forest. Keiko happened to run across Kurama as he was leaving one night. "Um, Kurama-san," she muttered. She knew Yusuke worked with him and he was rather pretty.

"Yes, Keiko-chan?" he said, his hands slipping into his pockets.

She twisted her foot, looking at her toes a moment. Why was this so hard? "Are you…with Yusuke?" she managed to ask.

"With Yusuke?" he asked. "Do you mean, are we dating?" he asked, wanting to be sure he was answering the right question.

She nodded. "I saw him before he left…"

"Oh," Kurama said, the light going on. "In a way, yes. He's also with Hiei, too." He stepped a little closer. "It was a surprise to him that we both wanted to be with him, but he was attracted to men before. I think you knew that."

Keiko looked up at him, her eyes wide with surprise, but his words worked their way into his memory and things that hadn't made sense before began to fit together. She drew her lip between her teeth. "I…didn't realize I did," she admitted.

"At this tournament, Yusuke will face many difficult things. Rejection from his dear friend shouldn't be one of them. Please, if you can, support him," Kurama pleaded.

Keiko drew herself up, indignant. "Of course! He's my friend!"

Kurama smiled. "Good. I'm glad to hear it. He'll need all the support he can get."

Keiko nodded. "Thank you for your time, Kurama-san." She was beginning to wonder just how she could get herself to the tournament. The more support Yusuke got there, the better and the best way to support him was to be there.

Kurama watched her go, pleased with what had happened. It was so simple to convince people of what they half believed themselves.

"I'm surprised you told her that much," Hiei said, appearing beside him as through from thin air.

"Humans respond best to shock," Kurama replied simply.

Hiei snorted. "Then what's wrong with Kuwabara?"

Kurama resumed his course to his house, Hiei following him. "He hasn't had a big enough shock," Kurama said simply.

"Do you think if we showed him what we did at night after playing with him, it'd be big enough?" Kurama had promised to allow Hiei to tie him down that night and Hiei was rather looking forward to having the fox's body as his play thing.

"That would be the wrong kind of shock," Kurama laughed, sensuality touching his voice as much as it moved his body.


	7. Chapter 7

Now, a few things to clear up before we move on to what I'm sure you'd rather read. First off, just because Hiei insults Kuwabara all the time doesn't mean he thinks him inferior. Hiei wouldn't bother insulting Kuwabara if he thought he was inferior. Rather, Hiei thinks that Kuwabara has potential but is rather dense about it at times and it is how he pushes him. And, Kurama wouldn't waste his time training Kuwabara if he was 'useless.' He also sees potential in the boy but thinks that he wouldn't be interested or react well to a sexual overture. And, just because Yusuke's given up on the idea of Kuwabara being more than his best friend doesn't change the fact that Kuwabara is his best friend. His 'more' interest in Kuwabara wasn't strong enough to ruin their friendship when it was supplanted by the fulfillment he found with Kurama and then Hiei. He was really wanting to be with someone who'd understand him rather than with Kuwabara specifically. So, just because Kuwabara is a bit slow on the uptake and thinks this might be an elaborate game (consider that he's seen Yusuke and the Toguros come back to life, though with the later, it was part of a plot device to get them to the Ankokubujutsukai, and he's seen demons and traveled between dimensions and gained a super power. What part of this doesn't sound like a video game?), but that doesn't change the fact that he's giving his best and is, despite his 'flaws' of still going through puberty, an upstanding person. So, just because he is narratively at a disadvantage does not mean that he is inferior. It just allows you, the reader/viewer to see how far he progresses to keep up with those who are at a natural advantage. He probably overcomes more than the others do just to be where he is with them, or, in other words, Kuwabara is 'fucking metal, man.'

So, let's move on to what you want to read.

Kurama led Hiei to his room, pressing a hand against the door after it closed to encourage plants he'd seeded the wall with to thicken as they would soundproof the room. This became more important because Hiei enjoyed making him scream as much as possible. He enjoyed it, too, for the deeper relief it provided than just sex, a relief that almost reached to the very core of his being.

"You've been pushing that human," Hiei said, his hands working on removing his cloak, tossing it carelessly over Kurama's desk chair.

Kurama worked his own clothes off mater-of-factly, folding them on the desk. "Yes, but we only have a month and we need him. It would be better if there was more time to properly build him up and to bring understanding, but we only have so much to work with." When he was free of clothing, he walked over to his bed and bent over to offer Hiei a more enticing view while he worked the chains from under the mattress. While he could grow ropes that would hold him, Hiei preferred restraints that took a little more work to turn on him.

Hiei leaned against the wall, bare to the waist, his shoes off, but his pants still in place. "True," he allowed. "Do you think he'll understand once we're at the tournament?"

Kurama turned around flicking his hair over his shoulder, crossing his arms over his stomach just because it was comfortable. "Maybe," he shrugged. "He will fight, though," he added.

Hiei nodded then pushed away from the wall. He brought his hand up and backhanded Kurama hard, flinging the redhead across the room so that he hit the wall.

A smirk curved Kurama's lips as he pushed himself up. So, it was going to be like that? He liked it when Hiei hit him like this. He knew the petite powerhouse would never actually fight him, knowing that when Kurama fought seriously, he fought dirty and to win. But, Kurama enjoyed feeling the power of the one who wanted to dominate him and Hiei was very good at showing that power to him. Kurama's head hit the ceiling and he landed against the adjacent wall, his ears ringing a little from the impact. He shook his head and licked his lips, a gasp escaping them when Hiei grabbed his hair and pulled his head back, pulling him up onto his knees and then arching his back to present his throat to Hiei's bite. Kurama's toes curled as his airway was cut off and he became more aroused than he had been in a while. His mind went fuzzy and warm and the next thing he was fully aware of, his legs and hands were tied down to the head of the bed, his legs pulled over his body. Hiei was fast and good, he thought to himself as he tried to ease himself into a slightly more comfortable position.

Hiei smacked Kurama's ass. "I didn't say you could move," he said sharply.

"Sor—" His apology was cut off as Hiei wrapped his hand around his throat.

"I didn't say you could talk." Hiei slipped his legs over Kurama's so that he could straddle his waist, pushing at Kurama's joints uncomfortably. Had he truly been human, Kurama's legs probably would have been dislocated. As it was, his demon nature made it so they just hurt. He leaned over, pulling Kurama's hair, lifting his head so that his shoulders were pulled into a more uncomfortable configuration. "Imagine, next time I do this to you, that detective will fuck your ass like this," he growled out. He reached behind himself and guided Kurama's cock into his ass. "I'll have him beat your ass then fuck you hard."

Kurama moaned in pleasure and in pain, though it was difficult to know which was stronger. He tried to rock into Hiei's body, the demon's words filling him with lust and making him want to know what Yusuke's cock would feel like in his ass, how the boy would 'punish' him.

"I'm going to show him just how much of a slave to pleasure you are, how much you want pain," Hiei continued, seeing his words working their way into Kurama's mind. His hands went to the redhead's chest and he dragged his nails down, breaking Kurama's skin in eight lines from collarbone to nipple, drawing out a scream as Kurama arched into the touch, twisting his body more painfully in the awkward position Hiei had him in.

Hiei leaned forward, waiting until Kurama's eyes cleared a little. "Then," he said, his hands moving to Kurama's throat, his thumbs caressing the so vital pulses, "I'll tie him down and fuck him as hard as he fucked you while you're forced to watch, unable to do anything else because you're still tied down."

Kurama's hips rocked into Hiei's body, causing him to groan again. "Please," he whispered, the sound not leaving his throat as his lips formed the word.

"Speak," Hiei ordered, smacking Kurama.

"I…I want you both to fuck me, at the same time," he said, his mind and body burning with need. "I…I want both your cocks in my ass," he said, licking his lips.

"Then train the detective," Hiei spat, rocking back sharply onto Kurama's cock. He looked at the redhead, sweating freely, face contorted with pleasure and pain and lust. "Use one of your plants to fuck yourself," he ordered. "And no more talking. The only sounds I want to hear from you are those you cannot hold back."

With a will, Kurama obeyed, a seed from near the foot of his bed exploding to life, smaller vines reaching to caress his ass before a larger, round-tip vine forced its way into his ass. He screamed as Hiei reached back and pushed it in farther then pull it out, matching his timing as he rocked back and forth on Kurama's cock. The redhead's screams came more freely as his body began to tense.

Hiei smirked, his own pleasure building as he watched and heard what he was doing to Kurama. "At the tournament, when we have a chance, let us both fuck the detective," he whispered. "Together, the first chance we get, the three of us are going to fuck for as long as possible," he growled.

"Yes," Kurama screamed, his mind almost making him believe that Yusuke was there with him. The small vines began to smack his ass, leaving behind their little marks.

Hiei clawed at Kurama's chest and abdomen, leaving more bleeding marks behind as he did. "You will be ours to humiliate," Hiei continued. "I will teach Yusuke how to use you properly, thoroughly. Prepare yourself."

Kurama's eyes rolled back in his head and he arched, screaming as his joints protested, as his hips thrust into Hiei's body and he came with the image of Yusuke and Hiei jacking themselves off until they came on his face, making him suck their cocks hard again.

When he opened his eyes, he smiled lazily. Hiei's come was on his face and, even though the petite demon had released his legs, his arms were still connected to the bed. His eyes focused on Hiei, kneeling over him, enjoying looking up at him around a half-hard cock.

"Suck it," Hiei ordered, pulling Kurama's head up. He spent the rest of the night fucking Kurama, having Kurama fuck him and spinning fantasies involving the three of them together until they were both well satisfied with themselves.

Kurama stretched, his joints protesting, when Hiei released him. He kneaded his shoulders and his hips. "Care to join me for a shower before we head out?"

Hiei grabbed Kurama's arm and thrust him toward the bathroom. "Let's hurry. No sense in making Kuwabara wait."

Kurama allowed Hiei to move him. "Once we leave, I'll have to respond in kind."

"I'm not stupid enough to try this without your permission. And if the detective is, he'll soon learn." He shoved Kurama's back, causing him to stumble a little.

Kurama turned, his back against the wall, his legs spread, knees bent to lower himself, rolling his hips, his cock hardening. He licked his lips. "He will," he purred.

Hiei crossed the room, lifting Kurama's legs, adjusting him so that he could comfortably hold up the kitsune, then, as Kurama guided his cock, thrust in hard.

Kurama moaned, turning on the water and washing Hiei's hair then his own as Hiei fucked him against the wall. He then fucked and washed Hiei as the petite demon kept his hands against the wall and presented his ass. The rested in the tub for a few moments, just sitting next to each other for the time being.

Kurama yawned, stretching as he rose from the tub. "It's time to go," he sighed. "It's time to return to preparations."

"I have somewhere else to be tonight."

Kurama looked over his shoulder, a towel in his hair. "We have no commitment, Hiei. You're welcome when you have time and if you don't, that's fine as well. I enjoy your company and you are very adept at fulfilling me, but I do know better than to trap you."

Hiei nodded sharply, taking a towel and drying himself off quickly. For Kurama to call him 'very adept' was more of a compliment than he'd ever received from the kitsune and he wasn't quite sure how to react, so he wanted to leave quickly.

Kurama finished drying off and dressing, grabbing a quick breakfast before he headed into the forest. He was tired, but it wasn't enough to affect him and he knew he'd probably bought himself a week before Hiei was ready to fuck him again and the petite demon would strive to outdo himself the next time they spent time together.

In such a manner, the month passed for the three who remained behind. Kuwabara's endurance improved and Hiei received more compliments.


	8. Chapter 8

As you know, Hiei did test Yusuke upon his return and was pleased with the progress he'd made, as was Kurama and that Yusuke ended sleeping through the trip and most of the first round of the tournament. Both Kurama and Hiei knew exactly how much progress had been made and how that progress had been made. Yusuke hadn't been allowed to sleep the whole month he'd been gone and he'd been pushed to develop his spiritual power to the point where reiki was almost the same as youki. Such a huge change in such a short amount of time was draining, to say the least. They both knew, even if Kuwabara didn't fully understand because they kept it from him, that Yusuke was rather close to death when he rejoined them.

There is a rather big difference between reiki and youki and their drain on a human body. Youki draws powerfully from the area around a person or demon, basically turning the body into a conduit, which explains why demons are able to fight so long and recover quickly. However, being a conduit is unnatural to the human body, which relies on its own strength and energy to produce reiki. Some humans can learn to channel some of the energy around them, but it's a very limited amount and significant recovery periods. What Genkai put Yusuke through forced his body to adapt, to become more like a demon's body so that he could channel energy more freely. Since this process is unnatural for humans, it's usually done over the course of years. Yusuke went through it in a month.

This is something similar to what Kurama and Hiei were doing to Kuwabara, as well, but, while they did push Kuwabara past what humans would normally be able to do in such a short amount of time, they didn't push him nearly as far as Yusuke was pushed, nor did they really push him past human limitations, just faster than most humans went. While it wasn't completely obvious yet, Yusuke had reserves that humans normally didn't have. This gave him an advantage that Kuwabara didn't have, despite the fact that Kuwabara had a naturally higher spiritual aptitude. Dying once already offered part of Yusuke's advantage and that Genkai was a bloody bitch was another advantage. Kurama does have a few scruples and morals, after all. Not many, but a few, enough to work well Kuwabara's limits.

The change from using reiki to youki will also create a change in the feeling of the person. Both Kurama and Hiei were very aware of this and Kuwabara could feel the difference, even if he didn't understand what it meant. He just knew his friend was moving away from him and wasn't sure how to deal with it. It didn't help him at all when Yusuke passed out almost immediately.

As you know, there had to be five members of the team to join the tournament and if they didn't join, the four would be hunted down and killed. Yes, this is very cliché, but what can you do. Things have to go a certain way when you're rewriting DragonBall…or rather, writing an adventure story. So, the fifth member of their team joined them, swaddled to hide their identity for the purpose of the boys learning to trust them, though Yusuke trusted the Masked Warrior so Kurama and Hiei accepted him. Kuwabara, though, had to be convinced.

And, as you know again, there were several teams on a boat taking them to Kubikukuri Island. The captain told them, once they were underway, that only one of the teams on the boat would be allowed to compete. By this time, Yusuke had passed out. Kuwabara, familiar with the tropes of video games, began to panic. How could they survive a man down, after all? They needed all five of them to get to the island, after all, or they wouldn't be there. Despite being asleep, Yusuke did prove he could defend himself. His body was on overdrive, after all.

Then, to simplify things as well as to prove something, the Masked Fighter takes on everyone else in the impromptu fighting ring and knocks them off with something that looks suspiciously like Yusuke's shotgun, but that's not foreshadowing at all. Then Kurama and Hiei take care of most of the rest while Kuwabara gets a couple and Yusuke even manages to get one while having nightmares about Genkai's training.

So, our team arrives at the island to find themselves at a resort. While Kurama and Hiei both knew that humans found demons fighting an entertainment equal to none. Kuwabara, true to his character, finds the fact that they're going to be entertainment offensive. Fighting was supposed to be for rich do-nothings, especially since their last fight for rich do nothings caused them to end up in the Ankokubujutsukai. The demons, though, find the promise of anything they could ask for was enough to put up with being a 'cheap thrill' for those with enough money and stupidity to show up, though there were some precautions to make sure that the humans wouldn't be too harmed by what happened. It wouldn't do to completely destroy one's source of validity and income, after all.

So, Kurama gave Kuwabara an excuse to allow for the rich to be there and they made their way to their room, Kuwabara feeling out of his depth. While trying to relax, it was pointed out to Kuwabara again just how out of their depth they were. It was like they were going to be facing the big boss when they were still in the first level of their game.

Now, Kurama and Hiei both knew what to expect in the tournament, though neither had been there as contestants, and most definitely not as 'sacrificial' contestants. While they did not regret their choice of partners, at least when it came to Yusuke and the Masked Fighter, even Kuwabara, for all his inability or unwillingness to believe this was anything but an elaborate RPG, wasn't nearly as bad as he could have been as a partner, they weren't particularly thrilled at how easy it had become to get around them. They had gotten to used to the human world, to being around those who, even when they tried to be quite, came across as loud as a tap dancer on a nightingale floor, though normal was more along the lines of standing next to Niagara Falls and they were beginning to realize just how used to the noise they'd gotten, especially after Rinku and Zeru's visit.

That night, between sharing a suite, though not a bedroom, with Kuwabara and the Masked fighter, not being sure what the following day would hold and being somewhat tired from training, and wanting to reset their sensitivity levels back to where they should be, Kurama and Hiei spent a quiet night, not talking, just resting. Boring, I know, but you have to consider what they'd be facing and they wanted to be prepared.

Neither of them were surprised that Kuwabara couldn't wake Yusuke in the morning and told him to lay off after a few minutes.

Now, let's go over a few things you did see and explain why they there. There is a reason that Kurama often takes the role of Captain Exposition and Captain Obvious. Consider that originally the story was created in a flat, non-moving form. It was needed to have something to indicate what was going on. Kurama has the most lucid thoughts about what is going on since he is more of a strategist than Hiei. Hiei also wouldn't think in words, he would think more in action and Kuwabara would think too much like a boy playing a video game and that's not the most coherent thing in the world and would show just how much he's not getting that what is going on is real. When the form was changed to animated, Kurama maintained his role as there are some things, many things, that are difficult to convey via animation. Most of what Kurama says, then, should be considered to be his inner monologue rather than things he's actually saying though they show his mouth moving a lot. It's not so much that he flaps his lips when his brain is running but more that the animators thought that words meant he was speaking aloud. Also, he does have to explain some of the things to Kuwabara and also sees that it would probably be more beneficial for him to maintain the 'RPG' illusion lest his brain break under the stress and RPG video games have the Expositor, so he took that role.

And, while Kurama did tell Keiko that they were going to a tournament, but no one had told her before Boton explained it, that he was going to be fighting demons again. She believed that Yusuke could hold his own against human fighters, but demons were something entirely different. She did remember what demons were doing when Yusuke went to the Makai and how long it took him to recover from that. In her mind, going up against a whole tournament of demons was just asking to die again. Had it been an option, she would have gone to Kurama to ask him why he didn't try to talk Yusuke out of it, why they were letting him be so stupid, but she had a feeling that Kurama was involved. At this point, she doesn't quite realize that both Kurama and Hiei are demons; she doesn't realize that until during the first match. But, between her and Shizuru, they convince Boton that it would be a better idea for her health to get them to the tournament.

A good portion of Koenma's hesitation, aside from the obvious problem of his typical form, was that he didn't think his father would particularly approve of the Reikai detective participating in a youkai tournament and if he showed up there, his father would be more likely to notice. In the end, it actually came down to the fact that he was the team's owner and the fact that Kurama could and would get into his office without anyone the wiser. While he wouldn't admit it aloud, he was, if not exactly afraid of Kurama, definitely wary of him. He knew, after all, at some level, just who Kurama was and what his reputation was. He also knew that if Hiei was with Kurama, he wouldn't stand a chance. He'd spied on what Kurama and Hiei did in their time off, to George's dismay, and knew that, while he quite enjoyed watching their version of fun, he wanted nothing to do with it, not that they'd be interested in 'fun' if they came after him.

So, everyone in our story gathered at the tournament. Keiko did not want to see Yusuke before hand as she wasn't quite sure how she'd react yet, so the girls just went to their own room for the night before the tournament began. The first day, they were surprised at how many people and demons were there.

I'm sure some are wondering why Atsuko didn't go in the anime though she did in the original story. Let's not discuss that. It'll be better for your enjoyment of the story if we don't. We also won't discuss a few other things that were forced into or out of the story except where they can't be avoided. We are merely here to discuss what went on behind the scenes and why certain things happened when they did and what happened when you couldn't see what was going on.

By the way, as you find out after the first round, in a manner of speaking, by stretching a metaphor nearly to the breaking point, you are reminded that Yusuke is pregnant with that egg he received from Koenma forever ago, or about six months ago, back when he was dead.


	9. Chapter 9

The first match went pretty much as you saw. That night, as they had the following day free, Yusuke went to visit Kurama after Kuwabara fell asleep. He was exhausted despite sleeping so long, but he also needed the reassurance of the kitsune's presence for a while. He found Kurama sitting at the window, looking out over the view afforded him of the forest. Kurama turned and smiled at Yusuke when the boy entered the room, walking surprisingly easily despite the wound on his heel.

"Trouble sleeping?" Kurama asked gently.

Yusuke moved closer to Kurama, leaning against the wall next to him. "A little. I missed you, too," he admitted, color touching his cheeks. "Where's Hiei?" he asked.

Kurama turned enough to wrap his arm around Yusuke's waist. "He needs to cope with rebalancing his energy alone for now," he said. He was aware enough of Hiei's energy to know that he was safe and didn't want anyone around.

Yusuke nodded, leaning his head against Kurama's shoulder. He was more tired than he wanted to admit, but he still longed to be close to the redhead. "He'll be okay?"

"Most likely," Kurama murmured, letting his cheek rest against Yusuke's hair. He brought his hand up to caress Yusuke's cheek and the boy moved enough to silently ask for a kiss. Kurama was in no mind to refuse him, needing the comfort of physical contact himself. He knew the boy needed the comfort as well, even if not for the same reason, and that he wouldn't be up for sex that night.

Their kiss was long, lingering, slow, remaining just lips for a long time before deepening to include tongues. It remained gentle, an expression of desire to simply be together until Yusuke was forced to bury his face in Kurama's neck to cover a yawn.

"I'll tuck you in," Kurama said as he guided Yusuke back to the bedroom he shared with Kuwabara, who was sleeping soundfully

In a show of vulnerability he would deny to anyone else, Yusuke let his head rest against Kurama's shoulder as they walked. "I'm sorry I'm not up for more," he mumbled as Kurama pulled down his blankets.

"Don't be," Kurama said gently, helping Yusuke into bed. He gave Yusuke another kiss, lingering and sweet. "It's been a long day; we're all tired. Sleep, Yusuke. There will be time later." He pulled up the blankets, smoothing them over Yusuke's chest.

Yusuke's eyes grew heavy and he smiled. "Yeah," he mumbled on his way to sleep. Whether that sleep was aided by Kurama or not didn't matter. Yusuke was tired enough that the mere thought of a soporific from Kurama would have put him to sleep.

Leaving one more kiss, one which Yusuke responded to even in his sleep, Kurama returned to his vigil at the window. He would give Hiei the night to recover before seeking him out. Hiei would resent his interference less if he gave him time. It was past midnight when Kurama finally made his way to bed.

The Masked Fighter was aware of what was going on between Kurama and Yusuke, saw Kurama leading Yusuke to bed and was savvy enough to know what it meant. As long as Yusuke was able for what he needed to face, as long as Kurama didn't do anything that threatened him, the Masked Fighter couldn't care less about what they did. As it was, with Kurama insisting the boy rest, it was obvious that Kurama actually cared about Yusuke.

The next morning, Kurama watched the first round of fights before going into the forest to find Hiei. Hiei was as far away from the tournament as the island would allow him to be. As he was still on the shore, Kurama waited in the forest.

Yusuke was still feeling off from the day before, unable to focus his reiki at all. As stated before, Yusuke's body was learning to use youki and he was, after a fashion, pregnant. Pregnancy uses a lot of energy, especially toward the end, as the fetus ensures its own survival, even at the cost of the 'mother's' health. Basically, that egg is a parasite, keeping Yusuke from recovering as he should. Topaz was aware that Yusuke needed time to recover and wanted to fight him at his best, even if Rugby was after a dirty win, regardless of the validity of it and he wasn't aware enough to be able to sense Yusuke's challenge just then.

Now, Kuwabara did see both the incident in the forest and the fight between Topaz's team and just the younger Toguro. In his mind, Toguro was the Final Boss and he was, roughly, aware of their current levels and knew that they'd be seriously fucked hard core if they had to face Toguro any time soon. But, there were to be other fights before they reached the final boss, that was the way RPGs worked, after all.

While I've said it before, I'll elaborate on it a little more here: Kuwabara needed the framework of a RPG in order to cope with the whole tournament. It wasn't due to a lack of intelligence, though at times he does seem to be more dense than others, nor was it due to a lack of perception, though again he was sometimes denser than others, it was more due to the fact that if this whole situation was real, he stood a very strong chance of dying before it was over. That realization would actually sabotage and cripple him in the tournament. But, there were many things conspiring to help him keep his belief that this was just a game, beginning back when Yusuke first came back to life. Even the rounds of the tournament corresponded to those in RPGs. The framework allowed him to do things that reality would not permit, actually unlocking his potential more and more quickly than it otherwise normally would have been. In his case, being out of touch with reality was a very good thing for his survival even if it isn't a coping mechanism that most psychologists would recommend.

Yusuke knew this was real, that he had died in truth and that he could die again. This, in his case, offered him strength. Hiei and Kurama were very well acquainted with reality, being demons. For them, reality pushed them where they needed to be. They needed the threat of death over them to achieve their greatest potential.

Hiei moved to the forest when the pain in his hand receded enough for him to function and test himself. Kurama watched, both critically, with a mind to how Hiei would perform in the tournament, and subjectively, as a dear friend. His offer to help was interrupted, though, by an attempt at dirty play to keep them from reaching the ring in time to join the humans for the fight against Dr. Ichigaki's team.

There was a major flaw in Dr. Ichigaki's plan, though, as there tend to be when dealing with Kurama. sent a robot after a geek. Not only did Kurama have a penchant for figuring out puzzles, he was also at the top of his class at a very prestigious school. He could have done the calculations Dr. Ichigaki used the calculator for without the calculator and point out exactly where Ichigaki went wrong and why they didn't work. While the robot might have worked against the boys or Hiei by himself, Kurama knew exactly what needed to be done, once Ichigaki's underling mentioned that it was supposed to be indestructible. The robot was both the irresistible force and the unmovable object. All that had to happen was for them to meet. A little reprogramming and the robot was his to play with.

Hiei was pissy enough that he tossed Ichigaki's underling into the stadium. It was a pleasant distraction and a nice payback for being pinned against the tree. Kurama rode the robot back, very amused at the panic their appearance caused.

Now, I'm sure many of you are wondering why Hiei and Kurama didn't just kill Ichigaki there and then, aren't you? Well, there was the problem of the blood control humps and the safe removal thereof. Ichigaki's death would not have solved that. There was also making sure that the controlled human's sensei managed to make it through into the stadium. He'd insisted, despite his condition and the fact that Kurama's ability with plants only allowed him to do so much. While very smart and very good with plants, human medicine wasn't something he'd studied well enough to do more than the basics. The cure, without knowing exactly what was wrong, was outside his reach.

There was also something resembling sportsmanship. Both of them were familiar enough with the tournament to know that if they fought outside the ring, it was highly likely that it would be counted as a loss against them. They would not jeopardize the effort that Yusuke, the Masked Fighter and Kuwabara were putting into winning, into freeing the humans that were trapped by Ichigaki. Exactly whose motivations were which didn't really matter, the end result was that they would not fight Ichigaki outside the ring.

That is, until the match was won. After that, all bets were off. Especially when Ichigaki took that drug. Kurama was very pleased to see that Yusuke had recovered and was able to not only stand against Ichigaki but also outsmart him, not that Kurama thought that took a lot to do, given his robot, but it was nice to see Yusuke in better form again. Now, given our metaphor earlier, you should know what that means. Yes, it means it's getting very close to birthing time.

Now, Yusuke and company won the match. What they really needed was a chance to recover, to heal. Kuwabara, Hiei and the Masked Fighter were all seriously depleted of energy and injured. They needed time to recover. Yes, demons recover more quickly than humans, but when you consider that what Hiei did in summoning the Kokoryuuha had not been done before nor would a human have survived the process at all, he is recovering quickly.

But, the tournament was stacked against the human team. There were so many bets against and the odds were so ridiculous that the tournaments sponsors had to do everything they could to ensure that they lost just to survive financially. Yes, most of the sponsors bet against them. So, instead of getting a chance to rest, they were in the next match. Two fighters remaining that could do anything worth speaking of, the other three exhausted or injured.

And, to make things even better, the opposition is given the chance to attack even before the match begins, trapping Hiei and the Masked Fighter within a barrier that they were, even combined too weak to escape, even though it normally could not have contained even one of them.

So, we are now set up for the third round for Yusuke and company. Not only are they at a disadvantage for facing their second match of the day, they're also down to just two fighters. But, just outside the stadium, an ace arrived to slip up the sleeves of our handicapped heroes.

Hearing of the tournament even in the glaciers that the Koorime occupy, Yukina had to come, had to see those who'd helped her so much. Boton saw her, being the only one the girls that would recognize her, called out to her and guided her to their seats on the stands. This turned out to be a very fortunate thing. After all, what kind of hero would allow his lady faire to see him such a state as Kuwabara was in just then. And, with the other judging Kuwabara not enough of a threat to contain, he was free to not only see Yukina but to use the RPG hack in his brain to recover much faster than it should have otherwise.


	10. Chapter 10

So, let's start at the beginning of this match and explain a bit of why things went the way they did so it makes a little more sense.

The opponents are shinobi, ninja, shadow warriors. I emphasize this because it makes a huge difference for Kurama. He was a strong fighter, despite a few bad habits which Hiei points out, but he hadn't really ever fought ninja before. He'd fought a lot, don't get me wrong, but bounty hunters and most demons fight in different ways than shinobi. First off, most demons don't really set up a kekkai to fight. Most demons just fight, revealing a lot of themselves in their attack. Kurama's style was to get to know his opponent and hurt them as much as possible. He is a kitsune, after all, and there is a certain amount of playfulness inherent in that. And, in many ways, Kurama is a lot of a masochist. He gets off on pain and being almost beaten is a delicious pain, then his sadistic side comes out, he hurts his opponent.

Using such techniques against opponents who fight more openly is usually quite successful and explains Kurama's reputation and how he could be so stupid in his fight against Gama. Yes, he was stupid. Gama was a professional fighter, not just a demon who liked to pick fights. So, because of Kurama's bad habits, which aren't usually an issue and actually kind of a benefit at times, he ended up being trapped by Gama, assuming that his only paint brushes needed to be avoided and based his strategy on that. Not considering that there could be more and not paying attention to Gama's comment that his makeup contained his blood. While he deliberately allowed himself to be chained in a move to lure his opponent into his trap, he didn't anticipate being hoisted on his own petard and having his youki trapped within his body.

Touya was a bit more of an 'honest' fighter, but Kurama was at a serious disadvantage to start with, with his limbs weighed down and his youki trapped, though a side effect of his youki being trapped did seem to be that his limbs became stronger, able to move more freely, though he couldn't summon a weapon again. At least, not yet. Touya was more directly powerful than Gama, but his attacks were also more direct, playing into Kurama's strengths, even his tendency to play with his opponents. He was able to control the fight to the point that Touya attacked when he was prepared. While it was difficult and more painful than he cared for as well as slow, Kurama could cause plants to grow within his own body. It took all he had left in him to control the shimanekisou long enough for it to attack at the right time. It was also the only thing holding him up at that point, as well. He won, but the cost was steep.

As has been established, those running the tournament really wanted Yusuke and company to lose. The demons wanted that as well, so they weren't likely to protest. The announcer was beginning to suspect, but what could she really do? She was little more than a clock, after all. So, even though Kurama was out on his feet, he had to keep fighting and his next opponent took a great deal of pleasure in the fact that he didn't fight back.

Now, Yusuke had no problem, for the most part, watching Kurama fight when he was able to fight. He would prefer that he didn't get hurt and he knew that Kurama could handle himself. But, when that sadistic idiot decided to use Kurama as a punching bag, Yusuke's temper almost got the better of him. He would kill for Kurama's sake, had the other team's leader not stopped him. As it was, once he was able to remove Kurama from the ring, he let his anger and frustration out, making short work of the idiot.

Once his irritation was eased, he was actually able to enjoy his fight with Jin; they both took joy in the battle against a well matched opponent. It was a delight for them to just fight, both forgetting in the excitement that they were still within the tournament. Were it possible, they would have just enjoyed fighting for as long as possible, day after day, just for the sheer joy of it. This made the fight quite enjoyable for those in the crowd that would allow themselves to be entertained by a good fight. As established, this was, by far, the minority.

The majority of the audience didn't want a good fight, they wanted the humans and the demons who fought with them to die and the judging committee wanted to win their bets against the humans. This happens to be one of the cardinal things that a committee in charge of a fight should not do, but the ultra rich tend to think the rules don't apply to them, even the rules they themselves make up. So, while Yusuke was declared the winner and Jin accepted that, believing they'd had a very good time. The judges, however, in order to try and protect their fortunes against their inability to predict just how Yusuke and company would react to such challenges, reversed the decision of Yuri on a technicality they had over looked in other cases for the sake of a good fight. After all, if the judges were going to be utterly fair, they'd have to consider all the time that Jin was outside the ring, flying around the stadium, unquestionably outside the ring in the center, not just so far above it that in order to be sure if he was in or out, you'd need to look down from above him or draw a barrier from the ring up, neither of which happened. But, of course, none of that was ruled on because to do so would have made Yusuke the winner in the match before they could come up with an excuse to make him lose.

Now, with Hiei and the masked fighter contained and Kurama already declared lost and now Yusuke lost, that only left Kuwabara, who was badly injured, but having not fought in this round yet was still considered a viable contestant by the committee, even if he was flat on his back. Even more, in order for Yusuke's team to advance, Kuwabara had to win, which didn't look very likely. But, in a short break between matches, so generously granted by the committee, Shizuru and Keiko found Yukina and brought her into the stadium.

It was rather remarkable that Kuwabara managed to pull himself up and get into the ring before he saw Yukina, but somehow, he managed to hack enough of his brain to get into the ring, even though he was severely injured.

Risho, the leader of the shinobi team, wasn't gentle at all with Kuwabara, attacking him as viciously as if he were facing a fully able demon rather than a barely standing human, yet Kuwabara managed to pull himself up after every attack, even before he saw Yukina. But, just getting up after each attack doesn't really win a fight, even if the judges weren't against you in the first place. So, Kuwabara had to do more, he had to do more than just 'bring his A game.' He had to win, but the odds were so badly against him that he would have been lucky to even survive the match, much more so to win it.

But, as I said before, Kuwabara didn't believe this was real; he believed he was in a game, so all he needed was a way to level up. And, for Kuwabara, the fastest, surest way to level up was the 'power of love,' or possibly the dread fear that he'd make a fool of himself, his definition of fool, in front of the girl he was head over heels in desire for. So, seeing Yukina watching him in the stands really was the impetus he needed to push his game beyond and defeat Risho in such a way that not even the committee could argue with his victory, could not reverse the decision. It also helped that Hiei and the masked fighter broke out of the kekkai and were more than ready to take on the entire stadium if needed. So, our team made it to the semi-finals and to a couple of days of well earned rest.

That night, with Kuwabara still needing medical care, mostly supplied by Yukina with Botan and the Masked fighter lending assistance, Yusuke found his way into Kurama's and Hiei's room, stopping in the doorway to watch as Hiei carefully remove the shimanekkisou from Kurama's body.

"Come in, Yusuke," Kurama whispered, his voice trembling with just controlled pain.

Yusuke entered, moving to kneel in front of Kurama, moving when Hiei's knife was away from Kurama's skin. "Anything you need?" he asked, brushing Kurama's hair back.

"Kiss," Kurama asked, tilting his head a little. He was ridiculously turned on from the pain and needed the safety of being with Yusuke and Hiei to find relief.

Out of the corner of his eye, Yusuke saw Hiei nod. He leaned forward, tugging on Kurama's hair, until their lips met. Kurama's kiss was desperate, hungry, submissive, imploring Yusuke to dominate him. Yusuke was more than willing to comply, some of the irritation from earlier morphing into the frame of mind that he needed to be dominant, to push Kurama into that place where he could forget for a few moments. Yusuke's fingers moved to Kurama's scalp, his nails digging in, drawing out moans from Kurama as Hiei continued to cut out the weed.

A clack let them know that Hiei had set the knife on the side table. "You're going to suck Yusuke's cock while I fuck you," he ordered, pulling off clothing, his and theirs, taking no care to ensure its further wearability, his fingers finding the weaknesses in the fabric that covered what he wanted exposed. He even pulled Yusuke around so that he was resting against the head of the bed and then moved Kurama so that his mouth was over Yusuke's cock, drawing out complaints from both of them. "Shut up, you can take your time next time," Hiei said, smacking Kurama's ass hard enough to leave a red impression.

Kurama groaned, rubbing his face against Yusuke's cock. "I think he means it," he panted out.

Yusuke threaded his fingered through Kurama's hair. "I know he does," he said, guiding Kurama down.

Kurama groaned as Yusuke's erection slipped between his lips and Hiei's cock entered his body at the same time, drawing a delicious groan from Yusuke as his hips rolled into Kurama's mouth. He whimpered at the brutal rhythm Hiei set up, gagging a little as Yusuke pulled his hair to force him to match it on his dick, but Kurama was quickly reaching a place of utter bliss where his mind could be empty and he could surrender completely to the two around him.

Hiei met Yusuke's eyes over Kurama's back. They both knew exactly what place Kurama was reaching for and how much he needed it, especially as quickly as he dropped this time. A silent warning in Hiei's eyes told Yusuke he'd better last as long as possible, that Hiei intended to fuck Kurama until Yusuke begged to come and Kurama needed a very long fuck.

Yusuke swallowed thickly and kept his eyes on Hiei's while his hips thrust into Kurama's mouth, his fingers pulled the red hair, controlling the kitsune's head, watching Hiei's body thrust into Kurama's ass, seeing where the koorime's cock entered the kitsune's hole even with his eyes on Hiei's. A subtle nod from Hiei and they all came. After resting, drawing Kurama back to his skin, they spent the rest of the night making love.


	11. Chapter 11

Just so you know and won't be overly disappointed, that is the last time they have sex for a while. Between the semi-finals, finals, and everything else that happens in the next few days or so, there really isn't time. They did manage to get a day rest in there, though, not that any of them truly rested. Well, Kuwabara rested, in a way, though more forced to because his body hadn't recovered as much as it needed to yet. But, he was quite pleased to have Botan and Yukina watching over him, though Botan did have to leave.

As you remember because I told you before, back when Yusuke was dead, he was given a spirit egg to help him come back to life and to determine his fate in the afterlife, because it is obviously impossible to determine whether a punk like Yusuke is a good or evil person without having something feed off his spiritual energy and make it obvious. That, and it works as a wonderful plot device. Consider for a moment that Yusuke's been, after a fashion, pregnant with that thing for a year, or maybe half a year, it's difficult to remember. Pregnancy will both draw a lot of energy and, toward the end, give the, well, normally, woman a burst of energy just before birth. This burst of energy allows for 'nesting' as well as labor. In Yusuke's case, it contributed to his ability to survive and continue in the tournament as the egg was about to hatch.

It's now that Koenma decides to remind Yusuke that he was about to give birth, or rather, tell him the egg was about to hatch. Now, no one, not even Koenma, knew what type of creature would come out of that egg, whether it would destroy the world and Yusuke was only shamming everyone into thinking he was any kind of decent person, or if it would reveal Yusuke to be a weeaboo little boy, full of squishiness he couldn't let anyone else see, a perfect tsundere. As it turns out, the result, while definitely not creature of hell bent on destroying the world, isn't quite completely cute, either. Something between a long-eared dog and a penguin that was christened Pu because of the sound it made, kind of like naming a baby 'Whaaa' because of the sound it makes. Definitely cute, though a lot stronger than it looked. Keiko was around and decided that it was utterly cute and decided to take care of it for Yusuke since Yusuke found the thing rather embarrassing and Koenma and Botan laughed.

That was the morning. The afternoon took a turn Yusuke hadn't really expected though he should have. The masked fighter called him out to the other side of the island. Now, Yusuke, had he thought, would have recognized the pretty little girl under the mask as Genkai. You'd kind of think he'd known the whole time since the masked fighter arrived with him. I suppose he could be forgiven since Genkai was a pretty little thing and he was used to seeing her as a withered old granny.

She revealed to Yusuke that in order to master the techniques he'd need to face Toguro, the whole reason they'd come to the tournament in the first place, he still had a lot of training. And, of course, to speed through the training could potentially kill Yusuke again, but if he didn't go through with it, he wouldn't be powerful enough to stand in the ring with Toguro, much less win against him.

Isn't it nice how it's just assumed that they're going to the finals even though everything's been stacked against them so far? Even Toguro's team pretty much assumes they'll be at the finals. In fact, they take steps to assure that the committee is more…objective. Though, that does come a little later. First things first. I really should stop jumping around on you, shouldn't I?

So, let's go back to what's going on the afternoon Pu hatched. Genkai challenges Yusuke to kill her to learn the ultimate secret of everything. Of course, Yusuke wasn't enough of a bastard to go for that, which ended up being a good thing, because if he'd tried to kill Genkai, he'd have had his ass handed to him and lost everything. It wasn't long before he was almost wishing he had, though. It would have been far easier than what Genkai put him through, or rather, left him to go through.

In the mean time, back at the ranch, as it were, the four have to fight again. This time, they're fighting shadows of children's stories. Hiei started off with Kintaro, the golden boy of Japan who carried a hatchet. Then there's Momotaro, the peach boy who gave away dumplings to a dog, a monkey, and a pheasant to keep them from attacking them and they became his friends. Hiei managed to beat both of them, but just barely in the case of Momotaro.

Kurama went up against Urashima, the fisherman who found a very troublesome box. Again, Kurama's habit of playing with his opponents gets him into serious trouble, though in this case, it works out for him because this Urashima's box makes him younger, younger than when he was a human, drawing out the Youko. Now, Kurama thought that he'd lost any chance of drawing out Youko again before his body grew capable of handling his power on its own when he decided to remain in a human body. There is a bit of a difference between being strong enough to leave Shuichi's body and being strong enough to channel the power of Youko through the human form. By remaining, Kurama also forfeited the option to leave later since there was a narrow window that he could have left, the time between 'healed well enough to survive' and 'entrenched too much in the flesh to leave.' In essence, Kurama didn't fully ensoul the body until after that point and now he couldn't leave.

Youko is a bit more of a bastard, especially before the tempering influence of Shiori, which isn't to say that Kurama isn't, he's just 16 years out of practice at being an absolute utter bastard the way he was before he borrowed a human body, but this was Youko without that tempering experience. He was vicious, punishing Urashima for waking him most severely.

Next, Kuwabara was up against Ushiwakamaru, legendary samurai monk warrior trained by the tengu. This legendary swordsman, given the gift of a cloak of obscurity, was so far beyond Kuwabara's skill level that he didn't even break a sweat in sending him to the old ring.

Next, the Masked Warrior, or Genkai as we now know for sure, is up against Ushiwakamaru. Of course there's a stink about her looking old again, but when Toguro speaks up for her, the committee decides not to press its luck, for once, and allows the fight. Of course, Genkai is smart enough to let Ushiwakamaru hang himself, offering him enough rope to do so before yanking on it and defeating him.

Now, I know I said I'd stop jumping around, but we have to visit another ranch for a moment here. The girls managed to get themselves lost on the way to the match because they moved the semi-finals to another ring, not using the same stadium as before. There's also another ring girl, but that's totally beside the point. While searching for the new ring, the girls find Yusuke and Pu, exhausted, but still alive despite their trial. The point of this diversion is that Keiko and company were harassed by some demons mostly because they were human, but also because they were with Yusuke and company. They were rescued by Jin, Chuu, Rinku, and Touya, though, because they'd come to respect Yusuke's team and, even though they lost early, they were still stronger than most of the demons at the tournament. Together, they head to the ring for the semifinals, though Yusuke's pretty much out for the count and couldn't fight even if the committee would let him at this point.

Anyways, back to the main point of this part of the story, the fight. Kuwabara made his way back to the semifinal ring and is supposed to fight against Onji only to be sent back to the old ring again. On his way back, he catches up with the girls and Yusuke.

Now, Genkai is up again on the human's side. She fights against Onji, who's up again as well. He's not really from a fairy tale, unless you want to call him the 'old man' in many of the fairy tales, even though he used them and supplied them with their toys. I wouldn't be surprised if he named them, too. Let's go with he did, just for the sake of it amuses me.

So, while he starts off calling himself Onji, he takes off his costume and reveals himself as Suzuka. He's not from any particular fairy tale, though there is a city of that name that suffers communication issues due to the mixing of three dialects of Japanese. This really is beside the point. So, this Suzuka is rather vain, to put it mildly. And used rainbows to attack, believing himself to be utterly beautiful despite his rather ridiculous make up and rubber nose.

Genkai's not having any of his shit, though. She steals his nose and deflates his ego, forcing him to fight her. Of course, even in her weakened state, she still hands him his ass.

Even though he's defeated and made a fool, Suzuka isn't really that bad a demon. Even though he lost completely, he still gives Kurama the Fruit of Past Life, giving him the option of turning back into Youko again, and gives Kuwabara, who didn't really even get a chance to fight, the Sword of Trials to him to help him improve his strength with his spirit sword. To Kuwabara, this actually reinforced his belief, whether it ever actually reached a conscious level or not is debatable, that this was some type of elaborate game. After all, when you defeat an enemy in a game, you get something from that fallen enemy.

So, now we're down to three teams. Obviously there's another semifinal match. Do we really need to go into that? I mean, you know Toguro's team wins with only three members of their team. Kurama watches because he's really into torture porn, Hiei goes to train more, knowing he needs better control and stamina with his Kokuryuuha, whatever the cost. Kuwabara takes Yusuke back to the hotel and watches over him until he suddenly wakes and leaves. What causes that? Keep reading.

The reason only three of the Toguro team fight is that the younger brother seeks out Genaki. See, they were together when they were young and fought in the tournament fifty years before. Toguro still has a beef with Genkai for not following him when his wish turned him into a demon. He loved her, in his way, but she decided to remain human. Now, with most of her spiritual power in Yusuke, she's a pretty poor target for Toguro, but that doesn't stop him from overkill…and killing her while Yusuke watches. Then, to add salt to the wounds, Toguro punts Yusuke to the other side of the island.

Now, let's keep something in mind. While Kuwabara has a very strong spiritual sense, he didn't know Genkai was the masked fighter and also wasn't fully aware of Toguro's attack and murder of Genkai. He wasn't aware of why Yusuke was depressed, wasn't aware of why the Masked Fighter didn't show up again, didn't understand why Kurama and Hiei were so tender to him. But, then, he also wasn't fully aware of how deep their relationship was, either.

So, the finals are set, to be between Team Toguro and Team Urameshi, despite all their challenges getting there.


End file.
